Interview with: Chris Thompson, General Manager - Cooper Basin, Strike Energy, a speaker at the marcus evans Oil & Gas Summit 2013, on making shale gas products a commercial success.

1. Shale Gas for
Commercial Success
Unleashing
sufficiently high organic content, have
some porosity in which hydrocarbons
may be able to be stored and mobilise.
A favourable stress regime in the rock
will facilitate the ability to effectively
stimulate wells that are being drilled
and in turn open up a sufficient surface
area to allow very low permeability
rocks to flow hydrocarbons at sufficient
rates to be commercially viable.
Interview with: Chris Thompson,
General Manager - Cooper Basin,
Strike Energy
It is critical to understand the
fundamentals of shale gas, both the
technical and commercial aspects to
succeed, according to Chris Thompson,
General Manager - Cooper Basin, Strike
Energy. Every part has to work well with
each other to make unconventionals
work economically, he elaborates.
Thompson is a speaker at the marcus
evans Oil & Gas Summit 2013, in
Perth, Australia, 21 - 22 November.
How is shale gas changing the rules
of the energy game?
We are moving from targeting
secondary accumulations of oil and gas
to going straight to the original source
rocks. This is a fundamental shift in the
industry.
To understand the development
potential of unconventionals, it is key to
first identify the source rock in the
existing prolific area, then look to see
whether it has the characteristics which
would allow that potential to be further
unleashed and for the product to be
commercially produced.
What characteristics do you look
for?
What
ca p a b i l i t i e s
and
strategies are needed for success?
The rock needs to have the right
parameters. It needs to have a
Access to infrastructure is also critical,
whether that is via existing pipelines or
gas facilities, or service industries that
can easily support your activities. You
could have the best play in the world
technically, but if you cannot sell the
product without putting a long pipeline
in p lace , yo u w ill s trugg le to
commercialise it.
To make money in this business, the
cost base must be sufficiently low since
the long -term flow potential of
unconventionals can be lower than
conventional sources.
All the aspects have to work well with
each other to make it a success.
Existing shale plays in the US can have
very different parameters, but they can
still work , as more favour able
parameters can compensate for less
favourable properties of the rock.
How could companies plan for
commercialisation before drilling
the first well?
It is necessary to scope out the problem
and using all the available data from
historical data sources to define a set of
assumptions, which will help to make or
break that play as quickly and as cost
effectively as possible. When evaluating
the project, preconceived ideas on what
will and will not work can point you in
the wrong direction.
It is important to keep an open mind
and do your homework to figure out
what you know and what you do not
know, and build your programme
around solving the problem.
What are some of the preconceived
ideas that could lead to failure?
There are many things. It could be
applying a technology which worked
somewhere else without attempting to
understand the application and whether
it is also applicable to the problem at
hand. It could also be assuming that
since the technical fundamentals are in
place that commerciality will follow,
without acknowledging the hurdles to
market entry.
To make
money
in this
business,
the cost
base
must be
efficiently
low

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About the Oil & Gas Summit 2013
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To view the web version of this interview, please click here: www.oilandgassummitanz.com/ChrisThompson